This seems as good a place to jump in as any, seeing as I'm currently trying to wait patiently for my birds eye GG Charvel that I have on order to arrive

Guitarist and Guthrie fan from Norway here!

The ETA for mine is december. Does anyone have any insight into why it's taking a long time? I guess this is just a time consuming guitar to produce? Or are there any specific problems getting the materials or such?

Hey Terje, welcome to this board. It's quiet here but that's what I like about this place and I can post some blogs every now and then that people could enjoy reading about.

There's a spec change coming that will significantly improve the tone of the guitar. That's all I could say at the moment. Guthrie has several GG prototypes that he's been using for well over a year now and he has determined why one stood out from the rest and that's the one Charvel will go with for the production units.

Guthrie and Charvel really went all out to nail down every little detail on this guitar and that's the main reason it has taken so long. One was the arm assembly on the vintage Floyd bridge and that wasn't as easy as it seemed. But now it's perfect and Guthrie is very happy with how it works - no jiggle whatsoever and the arm stays in place where you leave it.

Charvel will post the updated details on the site and through social media very soon. Hey, we've all waited this long so it shouldn't be a problem to wait just a little longer. _________________Ed Yoon
Certified Guthrie Fan-atic
BOING Music LLC - Managing Partner
.strandberg* Guitars USA
Ed Yoon Consulting & Management
Guitar Center Inc.

Having spent a decent amount of time noodling on Guthrie's prototypes over the past 18 months or so, I can say that it's the ultimate "superstrat". As far as I'm concerned, it's about as far as the concept can go and as good as it gets. Plus, it has the proper "Strat" headstock to boot! _________________Ed Yoon
Certified Guthrie Fan-atic
BOING Music LLC - Managing Partner
.strandberg* Guitars USA
Ed Yoon Consulting & Management
Guitar Center Inc.

any new info regarding a release date? The dealers keep announcing new dates all the time... I heard they are making small changes to the trem... anyone know what it is that they are doing?

Sorry, at this point in time I have no idea and I don't think Guthrie does either. And I don't want to keep bugging the Fender/Charvel folks about it. I know that they're doing their best and they won't start shipping until everything is perfect. The small changes ended up taking a lot longer than anyone anticipated but that's just how things go with new product introductions in this industry._________________Ed Yoon
Certified Guthrie Fan-atic
BOING Music LLC - Managing Partner
.strandberg* Guitars USA
Ed Yoon Consulting & Management
Guitar Center Inc.

I was fortunate enough today to acquire what I've been told is the first production birdseye Guthrie Govan Charvel. As someone that has owned a few of the Suhr GG's and now this Charvel, I can say its a wonderful upgrade on the tried and true design. The sound is just meatier and the sustain is nicely improved. I'm very psyched to put this guitar to work immediately!

Hey Pete! Good to see you here. Congrats on getting the first production Charvel GG with the Birdseye top! That looks awesome and glad to know that you're really digging it. "Meaty Beast", eh? Maybe that should be the tagline.

Seriously, it's a great all-around guitar. It's been a long journey getting here. An awful lot of work went into its development. Kudos to the great folks at Fender/Charvel for following through and producing a magnificient instrument. They really went all out for this.